Holiday time again! Shopping for gifts nobody really needs, stressing over whether you got an even number of presents for everyone, trying to find parking, and Christmas cards!
(Okay, that was a mean rant. I'm not a Scrooge. Really, Christmas is one of my favorite holidays).
Sending Christmas cards is always a dilemma for me. When I was a kid and more concerned with presents, I do remember receiving dozens of cards and they weren't the ones that are mass printed. My parents picked out each and every one, as did our friends. They meant something. Mother would tie a string of yarn across the fireplace and display our cards all season. Every time I looked at that display I remembered how many people thought of us all year.
As a young married, we received and sent the mass printed, boxed cards. They came from everybody in our sphere of knowledge - the doctor, Acme store, pastor, our government Representative, plus friends and family. I continued my mother's idea of a display over the living room archway. By this time mom and dad were in this apartment and they put theirs in a decorated Christmas basket. (David made me a copy when we moved in here).
In the 90s we began to receive this new phenomenon - the Christmas letter. I'm sure they were around before that, but no one in our circle, except missionaries, sent them. We weren't so busy up until then and we communicated with people. Didn't need a run down of their lives since last we met. I liked them. TV shows made fun of them and Dear Abby was full of dismissive letters about them. How the writers probably lied to make themselves look better. My question was this - if they didn't have a good year, or if nothing happened, why would they go to the trouble to make up, print and mail a fake letter? I still don't believe that one.
The formula was the same for everyone we knew - Dear ________ (fill in the name). Followed by some well crafted religious statement to set the tone - "Greetings in the name of Jesus Christ, the Savior who came as a babe but grew up to die on the cross so we could have our sins forgiven ...." The letter would go on to list each and every possible detail of that person's life. And I mean every one. Two pages of things I would never think to ask or ever want to know. "John has been suffering from bloating for weeks but we found out it was an allergy to nuts the dog has been limping and we've given him antacids Mary Sue has had a real struggle with math this year and her legs itch Grandma's hearing has really gone downhill our beloved dog Alice died this year Ray tried basketball but was so bad at it he got thrown off the team..." Last paragraph, another super religious statement and maybe the words to a hymn. I scratch my head and wonder, why would they think anyone would want to know this insider information? Filters, anyone?
Okay, I'm being judgemental. Forgive me. I can, because I wrote a lot of those letters myself. In those days it was important to follow the straight and narrow and not make waves. I cringe when I remember. Oh Martha Jeanne, where was your good sense and creativity?
These days, I simple adore Christmas letters! They've become as original as their families of origin. One dear friend who is with the Lord this year sent photo cards every year. Her children have children and we still got those cards. One year a family we knew had a horrendous year and their letter spelled it out in painful, intimate detail. We got a letter written in round labyrinth shape, and a poem letter. One written from the perspective of the family cat. One with a photo included of a grandchild seconds from the birth canal.
I love them all. I love to know what's been going on in every body's life. I hope I do a good job and they like to get ours.
Now, about Christmas cards. They're expensive. And stamps - out of sight. We've gone through some very difficult financial years (haven't come too far since then, sadly) but we always found money for cards. I would promise myself that this year, no. Can't afford it. Then cards would come to me. "Oh, I have to send this one a card, and she would wonder what happened if we didn't send her one, and it would be an insult to forget so and so." We once sent a card to a friend who never replied and we never got the cards back. Turns out he had been dead for 10 years and his son, in whose home he had lived, just never bothered to tell us.
I agonize over the right cards. Not paintings of the Christmas story, not trite little sayings, not secular images - after all, it is my religious holiday. Something sacred but still creative. And we always manage. I take my choices very seriously.
So you'll probably get a card from Dave and Martha, and a letter. I hope it suits and you find it interesting but not cloying. We'll try to keep the intimate details to a minimum.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Sunday, November 11, 2012
Christ Returning
I'm not putting anyone else down. This is my perspective and everyone else has a right to theirs. So my blog - indulge me.
No, I don't want Jesus to return because I don't like the president. I don't want Him to return because of 'the gays' or Ellen 'Degeneret'. I don't want Him to come back to punish the pro choice advocates.
My pastor preaches about His imminent return. "Be ready!" Humm.. how be ready and why? If He comes to take me out of this world, this world and all it's sin and despair will drop away. Why would I need to pray more, behave better or read more scripture?
I have friends who won't send their daughters to college because there's no point. Jesus is just going to come back and women won't need jobs. They should raise children to look forward to Jesus' return. (head scratch).
There are end times conferences, books by the million (Left Behind series), endless classes - 'Are We in The End Times?' Plotting the clues like an astrologer. Divisions and even age old arguments over how He'll come, when He'll come, who will go when He comes. Secretly rejoicing in the misfortune of those who will be left. (Come on, even though it's de rigour to add 'of course it's so sad' you know you're wiping your brow and saying, 'whew! Got in!)
Personally, I'm not 'ready'. I can live with gay marriage, abortion, Rosie O'Donnell, women having the vote and working, people behaving badly. In my worst times of depression I wanted to be out of pain, but not out of the world. I know my parents wanted to "see Jesus face to face!' but in my mind, He doesn't really have a face, I'm going to be essence as will God, Jesus and my loved ones, and with the world gone, am I going to have human emotions of eagerness?
I'd rather work to make my corner of the world a better place. To work on myself to be a light to the hopeless. And when He comes, He comes. And I hope the idea of only 'true' Christians going up is wrong and we all go up.
No, I don't want Jesus to return because I don't like the president. I don't want Him to return because of 'the gays' or Ellen 'Degeneret'. I don't want Him to come back to punish the pro choice advocates.
My pastor preaches about His imminent return. "Be ready!" Humm.. how be ready and why? If He comes to take me out of this world, this world and all it's sin and despair will drop away. Why would I need to pray more, behave better or read more scripture?
I have friends who won't send their daughters to college because there's no point. Jesus is just going to come back and women won't need jobs. They should raise children to look forward to Jesus' return. (head scratch).
There are end times conferences, books by the million (Left Behind series), endless classes - 'Are We in The End Times?' Plotting the clues like an astrologer. Divisions and even age old arguments over how He'll come, when He'll come, who will go when He comes. Secretly rejoicing in the misfortune of those who will be left. (Come on, even though it's de rigour to add 'of course it's so sad' you know you're wiping your brow and saying, 'whew! Got in!)
Personally, I'm not 'ready'. I can live with gay marriage, abortion, Rosie O'Donnell, women having the vote and working, people behaving badly. In my worst times of depression I wanted to be out of pain, but not out of the world. I know my parents wanted to "see Jesus face to face!' but in my mind, He doesn't really have a face, I'm going to be essence as will God, Jesus and my loved ones, and with the world gone, am I going to have human emotions of eagerness?
I'd rather work to make my corner of the world a better place. To work on myself to be a light to the hopeless. And when He comes, He comes. And I hope the idea of only 'true' Christians going up is wrong and we all go up.
The Yoga Mama
I did my first yoga yesterday. I am so glad there were no cameras there. "Put your hands up, squat, twist your arms around, bend one leg over the other, hold..." Yikes! The only thing that saved me were the other women in the room who were hopping on one foot and letting out "oofs" and "ouches".
I was attending a lecture by a young lady who had come through a terrible life circumstance and, finding her way out, found relief through the practice of yoga. She was sharing her journey with us. Her early life was my story, of feeling the odd child out, low self esteem, afraid of social situations. Yes, my old friends, I was, although I hid it by helping the hostess or jumping into the caterer's kitchen. Tears came to my eyes as I listened to this woman and wouldn't you know it, I had cleaned out my purse and had no tissues. Our life situations eventually diverged, she into some dark stuff, mine into quiet desperation. Both of us found healing by different paths, but healing none the less.
She talked about energy coming from the sun above, and up from the earth below. Sun and earth are life. Without them we do not live. We straightened our spines and aliened our bodies so the 'chi' could flow unimpeded from head to toe. We raised our arms and looked upwards to receive the light that was flowing down. We squatted down (ow ow ow), closed our eyes and breathed deeply fixing a wish in our minds that we would like accomplished in our lives. She spoke about getting rid of life distractions like TV and self medicating substances.
One thought that went through my head was, "This is the thing my church has warned against. Giving entrance to evil spirits. A useless practice that hippies and hippies do instead of knowing the living God."
And then I thought, wait, everything I've done so far has a correlation to my faith practice.
Could it possibly be that we're talking about the same thing from different viewpoints using different words?
As a Christian I do believe life comes from 'above', from God. I do believe His Holy Spirit flows through me if I open myself up to Its power. Aliening my spine is a health practice, not mumbo jumbo. When I pray I can't help raising my arms and touching my heart, it makes me breath deeply (which is also a health practice). I kneel to pray and through prayer I lift my needs to God, fixing them in my mind, expecting my needs to be met. Is cutting down my TV time a bad thing? Is my Christian faith the stuff of hippies and evil spirits?
I think that in a lot of life we're speaking the same language, using different motions. Its the blind men and the elephant, each touching a different part and thinking that part was the whole. If I believe God is all, over us, around us, through us (like the chi) then I have to believe people are more alike than different and their ways of expressing God their part of the whole.
I liked the yoga. Felt good when I got home. More energy. So we'll see.
I was attending a lecture by a young lady who had come through a terrible life circumstance and, finding her way out, found relief through the practice of yoga. She was sharing her journey with us. Her early life was my story, of feeling the odd child out, low self esteem, afraid of social situations. Yes, my old friends, I was, although I hid it by helping the hostess or jumping into the caterer's kitchen. Tears came to my eyes as I listened to this woman and wouldn't you know it, I had cleaned out my purse and had no tissues. Our life situations eventually diverged, she into some dark stuff, mine into quiet desperation. Both of us found healing by different paths, but healing none the less.
She talked about energy coming from the sun above, and up from the earth below. Sun and earth are life. Without them we do not live. We straightened our spines and aliened our bodies so the 'chi' could flow unimpeded from head to toe. We raised our arms and looked upwards to receive the light that was flowing down. We squatted down (ow ow ow), closed our eyes and breathed deeply fixing a wish in our minds that we would like accomplished in our lives. She spoke about getting rid of life distractions like TV and self medicating substances.
One thought that went through my head was, "This is the thing my church has warned against. Giving entrance to evil spirits. A useless practice that hippies and hippies do instead of knowing the living God."
And then I thought, wait, everything I've done so far has a correlation to my faith practice.
Could it possibly be that we're talking about the same thing from different viewpoints using different words?
As a Christian I do believe life comes from 'above', from God. I do believe His Holy Spirit flows through me if I open myself up to Its power. Aliening my spine is a health practice, not mumbo jumbo. When I pray I can't help raising my arms and touching my heart, it makes me breath deeply (which is also a health practice). I kneel to pray and through prayer I lift my needs to God, fixing them in my mind, expecting my needs to be met. Is cutting down my TV time a bad thing? Is my Christian faith the stuff of hippies and evil spirits?
I think that in a lot of life we're speaking the same language, using different motions. Its the blind men and the elephant, each touching a different part and thinking that part was the whole. If I believe God is all, over us, around us, through us (like the chi) then I have to believe people are more alike than different and their ways of expressing God their part of the whole.
I liked the yoga. Felt good when I got home. More energy. So we'll see.
The Election
Whew! It's finally over. President Obama has won a second term by popular acclaim. But it's been a terrible road getting to election day. I can't think of another situation that brings out such rancor in people who are normally of such good will.
I've had difficulty these 4 years of Obama's tenure trying to respect the man and office but not liking some of the policies that were coming out of the white house. I love his style, I love his wry approach, he is a disciplined man, his wife is strong and he has raised two lovely daughters. I sense, however, that his inexperience has gotten in his way big time. He didn't come to the office through business, political family or wealth. There's no training to be the leader of the free world. You get noticed, you are approached with an offer, you are groomed for a few years and you do what your party handlers tell you to do. They don't run a person for office unless he's able to do the job as they want it done.
- Nixon couldn't get elected if he had a nomination from God Himself, yet, he was. (Humm, maybe it was God Himself who nominated him?)
-John Kennedy didn't want the job, but his father was in too deep and forced his sons to comply. If Kennedy had continued to retirement we have no guarantee that he would have been a great president. It was only his death that catapulted him into political sainthood.
-Ronald Regan was an actor, not a politician. He was chosen and groomed for the job because of his acting and PR skills. And despite claims of sainthood by conservatives, he did a fair but not great job. He did what his party paid him to do.
-Poor George Bush was a failed businessman who was selected precisely because he knew nothing and would accept a shadow president to run things. (his brother Jeb was approached first and he turned them down).He was a christian, which the party needed for their conservative base. So a whole legend was written about his converstion at a Billy Graham crusade, witnessing to soldiers, praying over a sick bed. Then he got feisty and thought he could really do the job and a campaign to slap him down was started in the name of the dreaded liberals. His second term was bought for him and he was warned to behave, and he did. Good old folksy George.
-Barach was smooth, smart and the right ethnic configuration for the agenda and so was brought along for just this period in history.
It's no accident of fate that these men who had no experience were run for president. The powers that be want an obedient servant, not a thinker.
And here we are in 2012, electing a president. I can't begin to understand the viciousness that's been spewed out about Barach Obama. Accusations of being a muslim (why would he keep it a secret? It's no crime to be one, and why would he affiliate with the Baptist church way before thinking of public office?), of being an illegal alien, of redecorating the white house in muslim colors, wearing a ring inscribed with arabic prayers... and much much more.
Over and over, we've been told that 'true' Christians shouldn't vote for him because he sanctions abortion and gay marriage. I was told that by voting for him I was putting myself in serious jeopardy with God. And no amount of reasonable discussion made a dent in those people's minds. They want someone to hang their discontent on and the president seems like a good hook.
I have a theory. I think that when a person has emotional or mental issues, it's so painful that they'll look for somewhere else to hang their depression and anger. Can't do that to a person they know, but can do it to a celebrity or petty cause that won't face them every day. Its called 'transference'. Hating a president is an emotional tool to let off steam. It happened to George Bush. And I haven't got a single doubt that had Romney been chosen to win (predetermined?) there would have been something that these disgruntled, unbalanced people would fasten onto. Probably his faith. Or his wealth.
And something I've noticed is that when a person gets so over reactive to a political figure or a cause it's not just politics. This extreme need to control comes out in every other area of life - marriage, parenthood, friendships and work.
So it occurs to me that I have to get ahold of myself and not be too hard on those who hold these rabid reactions toward political and religious figures. There's more at work than politics. And as God has forgiven me my screeds and over reactions I need to be patient with others.
I've had difficulty these 4 years of Obama's tenure trying to respect the man and office but not liking some of the policies that were coming out of the white house. I love his style, I love his wry approach, he is a disciplined man, his wife is strong and he has raised two lovely daughters. I sense, however, that his inexperience has gotten in his way big time. He didn't come to the office through business, political family or wealth. There's no training to be the leader of the free world. You get noticed, you are approached with an offer, you are groomed for a few years and you do what your party handlers tell you to do. They don't run a person for office unless he's able to do the job as they want it done.
- Nixon couldn't get elected if he had a nomination from God Himself, yet, he was. (Humm, maybe it was God Himself who nominated him?)
-John Kennedy didn't want the job, but his father was in too deep and forced his sons to comply. If Kennedy had continued to retirement we have no guarantee that he would have been a great president. It was only his death that catapulted him into political sainthood.
-Ronald Regan was an actor, not a politician. He was chosen and groomed for the job because of his acting and PR skills. And despite claims of sainthood by conservatives, he did a fair but not great job. He did what his party paid him to do.
-Poor George Bush was a failed businessman who was selected precisely because he knew nothing and would accept a shadow president to run things. (his brother Jeb was approached first and he turned them down).He was a christian, which the party needed for their conservative base. So a whole legend was written about his converstion at a Billy Graham crusade, witnessing to soldiers, praying over a sick bed. Then he got feisty and thought he could really do the job and a campaign to slap him down was started in the name of the dreaded liberals. His second term was bought for him and he was warned to behave, and he did. Good old folksy George.
-Barach was smooth, smart and the right ethnic configuration for the agenda and so was brought along for just this period in history.
It's no accident of fate that these men who had no experience were run for president. The powers that be want an obedient servant, not a thinker.
And here we are in 2012, electing a president. I can't begin to understand the viciousness that's been spewed out about Barach Obama. Accusations of being a muslim (why would he keep it a secret? It's no crime to be one, and why would he affiliate with the Baptist church way before thinking of public office?), of being an illegal alien, of redecorating the white house in muslim colors, wearing a ring inscribed with arabic prayers... and much much more.
Over and over, we've been told that 'true' Christians shouldn't vote for him because he sanctions abortion and gay marriage. I was told that by voting for him I was putting myself in serious jeopardy with God. And no amount of reasonable discussion made a dent in those people's minds. They want someone to hang their discontent on and the president seems like a good hook.
I have a theory. I think that when a person has emotional or mental issues, it's so painful that they'll look for somewhere else to hang their depression and anger. Can't do that to a person they know, but can do it to a celebrity or petty cause that won't face them every day. Its called 'transference'. Hating a president is an emotional tool to let off steam. It happened to George Bush. And I haven't got a single doubt that had Romney been chosen to win (predetermined?) there would have been something that these disgruntled, unbalanced people would fasten onto. Probably his faith. Or his wealth.
And something I've noticed is that when a person gets so over reactive to a political figure or a cause it's not just politics. This extreme need to control comes out in every other area of life - marriage, parenthood, friendships and work.
So it occurs to me that I have to get ahold of myself and not be too hard on those who hold these rabid reactions toward political and religious figures. There's more at work than politics. And as God has forgiven me my screeds and over reactions I need to be patient with others.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Pontius Pilate
I like how our pastor does chapter by chapter Bible studies rather than subject sermons. We've been in Luke for months and today was Jesus' trial before Pilate. It got me to thinking - (of course it did...) - about the knee jerk reactions to Bible characters that christians seem to have. They're either GOOD or BAD, nothing in between, no understanding of what made them take the path they did, how God would view their lives. So often we force God to respond like we would respond.
So, Pilate. He came from an equestrian military family who got him well placed in his youth. He caught the eye of Tiberius and advanced straight up the ladder, hoping to reach the top. Tiberius knew he could trust his prefect, Pilate, and so, in 26 BC he sent Pilate to, basically, the armpit of Judea. There was a lot of unrest in the area because of the long standing, hated Roman occupation. Rebellion was bubbling just under the surface, about to explode. So the emperor sent the meanest, cruelest, most dangerous man he knew to keep the peace. Pilate of the Pontii family of Rome. And he lived up to his promise. He planted his heel on the Jewish neck and squeezed. He was hated by Roman and Jew alike but the Jews had no choice but to work with him if they wanted to maintain their religious and political standing.
Jesus. An wandering messiah, one of many, from a tiny village in Judea. So how did he come to be such a threat that the Jews wanted him dead? The Judeans wanted freedom from their Roman oppressors. There was a vast underground of rebels, growing stronger every day. This prophet, Jesus, was speaking about freedom as well, but from a different perspective. He meant freedom from religion, a personal God, personal spiritual responsibility and he claimed that his authority to teach such a novel idea came from his 'father' God. This is what made him dangerous to the Jewish authorities - Theirs was a highly political religion. This man could quite possibly gather enough support that political rebels would ride his religious wake into an uprising against the Romans. And if that happened, the whole religious and political structure would come down For the sake of the nation, Jesus couldn't be allowed to continue.
Jesus and Pilate cross paths. The Jewish authorities had to kill Jesus in some spectacular, horrendous way to send a very clear message to any who would come against Rome and the established religion. But the religious court couldn't do that, only the Roman court had that authority. The plan for a public execution was put into place. Jesus and Pilate were swiftly coming toward one another.
Jesus was arrested in the garden and taken to the priests to be tried. But he wouldn't cooperate and give them a secular reason for the Romans to execute him. Next step, bring him before the Roman prefect and accuse him of insighting riot. I can see Pilate being awakened from his sleep. The Jews that he hated were yammering again, demanding that he give his consent to some stupid religious matter. He threw his clothes on and stroke angrly into the court. And there was this beaten, half unconscious filthy beggar, the priests babbling on about his claiming to be God, saying he was forming a kingdom and he their king. Pilate was furious. Perhaps he decided in that moment to be oppositional to get back at the priests?
And then he heard the name of the man - Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate had heard of him. Miracle worker, preaching peace and obedience to the powers that be. He had been wanting to meet the prophet. And now was his chance. He ordered Jesus taken inside. They spoke. Pilate was impressed. Why would he want to have this man killed? "No," he said. "This man has done nothing to warrant death." But the priests shouted louder. So Pilate had an idea - he would send this Jesus to his enemy Herod who was the next highest in authority. There was no love lost between them and if shuffling Jesus off would get Pilate back to bed and off the hook it was worth a shot. Within the hour, the crowd was back. Herod didn't want the job either so he had Jesus beaten severely and returned to Pilate.
Now Pilate was really mad, but not at Jesus. He sensed that the prophet wasn't any danger to Rome but the priests were. He tried to reason with them - "I see nothing over which to condemn him. I'll have him beaten again to teach him a lesson." No, the priests shouted. "Execute him!" Still trying to get out of a bad situation that was growing worse, Pilate remembered that these people had a custom, to release one prisoner as a good deed for their Passover. He asked the head of the prison who they had down there and the name Barabas came up. A minor criminal, perhaps on the fringes of rebellion. Barabas was dragged out of his cell, sure that this was it, his execution had come. He was thrust out into the prefect's court beside another poor soul. "I will release Jesus, as is your custom!" The shouting became more frenzied - Release Barabas! Crucify Jesus!" And they wouldn't stop, their voices become louder and louder. By this time a crowd had gathered. The priests sent men through the crowd to whisper lies about Jesus until the innocent onlookers thought the calls for execution were their own idea.
Pilate's wife, Claudia, whom many scholars believe was a secret follower, called her husband aside and warned him of the danger he was facing. She knew the man Jesus and she knew he wasn't an ordinary criminal of any kind. She knew that condemning him would be her husband's downfall and so she warned Pilate not to listen to the priests but to quickly release Jesus. Pilate strode back out and the crowd went wild, screaming that they were going to report him to Tiberious and have him recalled if he didn't do what they wanted him to do.
And right then, Pilate made a decision that changed the course of history, a misjudgement that, on another night he might have made differently if he hadn't been tired, mad and harried. He caved in to pressure. What was one more wandering Jew more or less? But he got his last licks in - the death warrant was always written and nailed to the cross. He ordered the death warrant to say "He is the King of the Jews". No, said the priests, not he IS the king of the Jews, he SAYS he's the king of the Jews. Pilate snapped. "I've written what I've written!" and he ordered his soldiers to clear the court, which they did with all the hardness of the Roman guard.
We know what happened after that. Jesus was executed, he rose the third day. When word came to Pilate, what did he think? What did his wife say? He knew in that moment what a terrible mistake he had made. But what was done was done and he went back to his terrible and cruel reign, wiping out men, women and children, whole villages, crucifying hundreds of innocent people.
Five years later, Tiberious died. By this time, Roman and Jew alike had had their fill of his cruelites and Pilate was recalled. Emporer Caligula was crowned. And Pilate was in severe disfavor along with his family. He was stationed in a worse place, Gaul, which became France in later centuries, where he commited suicide rather than face the rest of his life in disgrace. The people threw the body into the river where he was eaten by fishes. (How ironic - eaten by fish, the christian fish symbol).
And now, ta da, the thought I had in church on Sunday about Pilate. We're supposed to hate him, righteously of course. He condemned the son of God! He didn't choose to do the right thing! But you know, on this side of heaven, how many of us have a perfect record? How many of us make right decisions all the time? Do we make misjudgements that change the world in their own small ways? This was one small man in his speck of time, who uncharacteristically tried to do a good thing, but who, in the end, made a choice he lived to regret.
I can see myself doing exactly the same thing. He didn't know this man was the Son of God. How would he? All these prophets claimed divine right, this one was perhaps more popular than most, more compelling. Pilate acted according to his life pattern -
Just like most of us do, just like I do all the time. And I think that if my misjudgements were written down and somebody published my story two thousand years from now, I might be viewed in a terrible light as well.
And beside all that, he, like Judas, was part of a plan - the role of the bad guy who advanced the plot. Without them, the whole story fell apart.
Mother Theresa said, "I can't judge you because of the Hitler in me." And I'm thinking, I can't judge any of these historical figures because the same capacity for horrible choices is in me.
So, Pilate. He came from an equestrian military family who got him well placed in his youth. He caught the eye of Tiberius and advanced straight up the ladder, hoping to reach the top. Tiberius knew he could trust his prefect, Pilate, and so, in 26 BC he sent Pilate to, basically, the armpit of Judea. There was a lot of unrest in the area because of the long standing, hated Roman occupation. Rebellion was bubbling just under the surface, about to explode. So the emperor sent the meanest, cruelest, most dangerous man he knew to keep the peace. Pilate of the Pontii family of Rome. And he lived up to his promise. He planted his heel on the Jewish neck and squeezed. He was hated by Roman and Jew alike but the Jews had no choice but to work with him if they wanted to maintain their religious and political standing.
Jesus. An wandering messiah, one of many, from a tiny village in Judea. So how did he come to be such a threat that the Jews wanted him dead? The Judeans wanted freedom from their Roman oppressors. There was a vast underground of rebels, growing stronger every day. This prophet, Jesus, was speaking about freedom as well, but from a different perspective. He meant freedom from religion, a personal God, personal spiritual responsibility and he claimed that his authority to teach such a novel idea came from his 'father' God. This is what made him dangerous to the Jewish authorities - Theirs was a highly political religion. This man could quite possibly gather enough support that political rebels would ride his religious wake into an uprising against the Romans. And if that happened, the whole religious and political structure would come down For the sake of the nation, Jesus couldn't be allowed to continue.
Jesus and Pilate cross paths. The Jewish authorities had to kill Jesus in some spectacular, horrendous way to send a very clear message to any who would come against Rome and the established religion. But the religious court couldn't do that, only the Roman court had that authority. The plan for a public execution was put into place. Jesus and Pilate were swiftly coming toward one another.
Jesus was arrested in the garden and taken to the priests to be tried. But he wouldn't cooperate and give them a secular reason for the Romans to execute him. Next step, bring him before the Roman prefect and accuse him of insighting riot. I can see Pilate being awakened from his sleep. The Jews that he hated were yammering again, demanding that he give his consent to some stupid religious matter. He threw his clothes on and stroke angrly into the court. And there was this beaten, half unconscious filthy beggar, the priests babbling on about his claiming to be God, saying he was forming a kingdom and he their king. Pilate was furious. Perhaps he decided in that moment to be oppositional to get back at the priests?
And then he heard the name of the man - Jesus of Nazareth. Pilate had heard of him. Miracle worker, preaching peace and obedience to the powers that be. He had been wanting to meet the prophet. And now was his chance. He ordered Jesus taken inside. They spoke. Pilate was impressed. Why would he want to have this man killed? "No," he said. "This man has done nothing to warrant death." But the priests shouted louder. So Pilate had an idea - he would send this Jesus to his enemy Herod who was the next highest in authority. There was no love lost between them and if shuffling Jesus off would get Pilate back to bed and off the hook it was worth a shot. Within the hour, the crowd was back. Herod didn't want the job either so he had Jesus beaten severely and returned to Pilate.
Now Pilate was really mad, but not at Jesus. He sensed that the prophet wasn't any danger to Rome but the priests were. He tried to reason with them - "I see nothing over which to condemn him. I'll have him beaten again to teach him a lesson." No, the priests shouted. "Execute him!" Still trying to get out of a bad situation that was growing worse, Pilate remembered that these people had a custom, to release one prisoner as a good deed for their Passover. He asked the head of the prison who they had down there and the name Barabas came up. A minor criminal, perhaps on the fringes of rebellion. Barabas was dragged out of his cell, sure that this was it, his execution had come. He was thrust out into the prefect's court beside another poor soul. "I will release Jesus, as is your custom!" The shouting became more frenzied - Release Barabas! Crucify Jesus!" And they wouldn't stop, their voices become louder and louder. By this time a crowd had gathered. The priests sent men through the crowd to whisper lies about Jesus until the innocent onlookers thought the calls for execution were their own idea.
Pilate's wife, Claudia, whom many scholars believe was a secret follower, called her husband aside and warned him of the danger he was facing. She knew the man Jesus and she knew he wasn't an ordinary criminal of any kind. She knew that condemning him would be her husband's downfall and so she warned Pilate not to listen to the priests but to quickly release Jesus. Pilate strode back out and the crowd went wild, screaming that they were going to report him to Tiberious and have him recalled if he didn't do what they wanted him to do.
And right then, Pilate made a decision that changed the course of history, a misjudgement that, on another night he might have made differently if he hadn't been tired, mad and harried. He caved in to pressure. What was one more wandering Jew more or less? But he got his last licks in - the death warrant was always written and nailed to the cross. He ordered the death warrant to say "He is the King of the Jews". No, said the priests, not he IS the king of the Jews, he SAYS he's the king of the Jews. Pilate snapped. "I've written what I've written!" and he ordered his soldiers to clear the court, which they did with all the hardness of the Roman guard.
We know what happened after that. Jesus was executed, he rose the third day. When word came to Pilate, what did he think? What did his wife say? He knew in that moment what a terrible mistake he had made. But what was done was done and he went back to his terrible and cruel reign, wiping out men, women and children, whole villages, crucifying hundreds of innocent people.
Five years later, Tiberious died. By this time, Roman and Jew alike had had their fill of his cruelites and Pilate was recalled. Emporer Caligula was crowned. And Pilate was in severe disfavor along with his family. He was stationed in a worse place, Gaul, which became France in later centuries, where he commited suicide rather than face the rest of his life in disgrace. The people threw the body into the river where he was eaten by fishes. (How ironic - eaten by fish, the christian fish symbol).
And now, ta da, the thought I had in church on Sunday about Pilate. We're supposed to hate him, righteously of course. He condemned the son of God! He didn't choose to do the right thing! But you know, on this side of heaven, how many of us have a perfect record? How many of us make right decisions all the time? Do we make misjudgements that change the world in their own small ways? This was one small man in his speck of time, who uncharacteristically tried to do a good thing, but who, in the end, made a choice he lived to regret.
I can see myself doing exactly the same thing. He didn't know this man was the Son of God. How would he? All these prophets claimed divine right, this one was perhaps more popular than most, more compelling. Pilate acted according to his life pattern -
Just like most of us do, just like I do all the time. And I think that if my misjudgements were written down and somebody published my story two thousand years from now, I might be viewed in a terrible light as well.
And beside all that, he, like Judas, was part of a plan - the role of the bad guy who advanced the plot. Without them, the whole story fell apart.
Mother Theresa said, "I can't judge you because of the Hitler in me." And I'm thinking, I can't judge any of these historical figures because the same capacity for horrible choices is in me.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Remembering 9-11
Named by it's date, it's our generation's national horror story. All through history the world has had them. Eve endured the sadness of her first son carrying on the family legacy; Noah's family endured the deluge; the Black Plague; Mongol hoards; Burning of Catholics then Protestants back and forth for a century; World War 1, the Holocaust, Pearl Harbor, the deaths of the Kennedys and now 9-11. We all remember where we were when we heard the news and we sat transfixed in front of the TV unable to look away.
We had just moved into our new home in Willow Grove. Baby Brianna and I were the only ones home and I had taken her to nursery school. A friend called and I couldn't understand what she was saying, she was crying so hard. She made me understand to turn on my TV, America was under attack! I ran to look and got there just in time for the second plane plowing into the tower. My mind covered up what I couldn't believe. A plane - flew into a skyscraper - full of people - and it wasn't an accident. Nah, of course it was an accident. Some poor pilot got way out of control.
Except it wasn't. It really was an intentional act of foreign mad men. I drove frantically to the daycare to get Brianna. I called my family who were out on the road and couldn't come home. I was sure, like the rest of America, that this was war and we were going to die today. I wanted to die with my family around me. But it was not possible for them to get home and so I watched, tears pouring down my face, horrified, all day, with Brianna sitting in her playpen, burbling and playing, in her innocence, not knowing what life changing event was unfolding before our eyes. I don't make fun of George Bush's expression when the secret service man walked into that classroom and whispered in his ear. I felt the same way he did. You can't take it in.
She's twelve now and studies history in school. Yes, the kids think 9-11 is terrible. But they can't possibly understand the real horror behind the story. My husband is a Civil War buff. It's his hobby to read about the battles and go to re-enactments. But for those men, it was hell come to life. I read about Pearl Harbor and watched the movie with Ben Affleck but I'm not as moved as was my father in law who lived through it. I'm interested in World War 2 from a historical viewpoint and it does horrify me, but not like it did my parents, or my uncle who was an army private who liberated one of the death camps or my friend Mary who missed being gassed by days. I'm sure the people of the seventeenth century looked back with unbelief at the burnings of religious people who didn't fit the current mold but went on with life where all could worship as they wished.
I know that the real gut wrenching, visceral reaction to 9-11 will fade with each year that passes. I know it will still make future generations shake their heads, not believing that terrorists were allowed to get that close. I know people will specialize in this era in history and play it out over and over like a Civil War enactment.
But for today, for us, it's good to feel the horror and to watch the pictures. It's good to have remembrance services and make the kids sit through lessons or videos. As has been said of World War 2, "Never forget, never forget."
We had just moved into our new home in Willow Grove. Baby Brianna and I were the only ones home and I had taken her to nursery school. A friend called and I couldn't understand what she was saying, she was crying so hard. She made me understand to turn on my TV, America was under attack! I ran to look and got there just in time for the second plane plowing into the tower. My mind covered up what I couldn't believe. A plane - flew into a skyscraper - full of people - and it wasn't an accident. Nah, of course it was an accident. Some poor pilot got way out of control.
Except it wasn't. It really was an intentional act of foreign mad men. I drove frantically to the daycare to get Brianna. I called my family who were out on the road and couldn't come home. I was sure, like the rest of America, that this was war and we were going to die today. I wanted to die with my family around me. But it was not possible for them to get home and so I watched, tears pouring down my face, horrified, all day, with Brianna sitting in her playpen, burbling and playing, in her innocence, not knowing what life changing event was unfolding before our eyes. I don't make fun of George Bush's expression when the secret service man walked into that classroom and whispered in his ear. I felt the same way he did. You can't take it in.
She's twelve now and studies history in school. Yes, the kids think 9-11 is terrible. But they can't possibly understand the real horror behind the story. My husband is a Civil War buff. It's his hobby to read about the battles and go to re-enactments. But for those men, it was hell come to life. I read about Pearl Harbor and watched the movie with Ben Affleck but I'm not as moved as was my father in law who lived through it. I'm interested in World War 2 from a historical viewpoint and it does horrify me, but not like it did my parents, or my uncle who was an army private who liberated one of the death camps or my friend Mary who missed being gassed by days. I'm sure the people of the seventeenth century looked back with unbelief at the burnings of religious people who didn't fit the current mold but went on with life where all could worship as they wished.
I know that the real gut wrenching, visceral reaction to 9-11 will fade with each year that passes. I know it will still make future generations shake their heads, not believing that terrorists were allowed to get that close. I know people will specialize in this era in history and play it out over and over like a Civil War enactment.
But for today, for us, it's good to feel the horror and to watch the pictures. It's good to have remembrance services and make the kids sit through lessons or videos. As has been said of World War 2, "Never forget, never forget."
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
Party Politics
I'm frustrated, angry and sometimes bemused about the party conventions! I want to watch my regular shows but feel a responsibility to know what's going on in my own country's politics.
I'm an Independent and usually an Undecided. My vote is a paradox - I realize that the man (or hopefully one day, woman) can only do what his party tells him, and I know the basic party lines don't change. And yet, I come down on the side of the man and not the party! I guess I'm more group think that I think I am.
Their platform "planks" don't move me. Promises made don't move me. Republicans have to be pro-life although the president has no authority to do anything about abortion and even if he could, wouldn't touch that hot potato. Democrats have to be for social programs although it costs citizens dearly in taxes to pay for them. Year after year each party candidate shouts about being for or against abortion, gay marriage, gays in general, government spending, immigration and then does nothing when they finally get in. I remember George Bush at his convention, speaking Spanish to his Hispanic voters, promising all kinds of perks to their communities. Yeah, that happened. And Obama promising a change and hope - not so much.
Some of my friends vote along moral lines. The Christian (from the right denomination); the one who champions pro-life; the one who is anti "gay agenda". Drives me up a wall. How does a man's moral compass make him a credible CEO of the company known as USA? Some people I know go for the man who looks good, who represents to foreign governments, who is conciliatory. Again, how does a nice guy apply to global finance and war? Reagan was everybody's grandfather, Kennedy was a handsome playboy wink wink, Bush was the quintessential cowboy, Clinton was cool, Palin was 'just like us' soccer mom, Obama is, well, ethnic and a nice family man. None of which fits them for the job!!
And yet, they did a credible job with what they were allowed to do by handlers and the opposition. They had their hits and they had their misses, like the rest of we unwashed masses.
So the RNC just ended, the DNC is tonight. There will be comparisons, we'll like and hate some of what we hear from both. Party faithful will cheer for their guy no matter what he says and criticize the opposition. Both will accuse the other of telling lies. Both will trot out some sentimental character who steals the show with a goofy speech meant to make the candidate look human. Their wives will tell us all what a loving husband she has. We'll be told that he wants to return us to the Real America... uh, and that is??? 50s? 20s? Beaver Cleaver? Thomas Jefferson???
But basically, who doesn't already know who they're voting for? Between now and November gobs of money will be spent and miles clocked for last minute campaigning - when 9 out of 10 of us have already made up our minds.
Based on.......???? Promises are empty, it's all a show... In the end, we continue to vote for the man, not the party platform. Hopefully not for his religion, or because of ridiculous smears (put out by the candidate himself to garner hype), or because he plays the sax, reminds of of the good old days or has either an assertive or 'purty' little wife.
I hope the vote is based on experience, integrity and balance.
I'm an Independent and usually an Undecided. My vote is a paradox - I realize that the man (or hopefully one day, woman) can only do what his party tells him, and I know the basic party lines don't change. And yet, I come down on the side of the man and not the party! I guess I'm more group think that I think I am.
Their platform "planks" don't move me. Promises made don't move me. Republicans have to be pro-life although the president has no authority to do anything about abortion and even if he could, wouldn't touch that hot potato. Democrats have to be for social programs although it costs citizens dearly in taxes to pay for them. Year after year each party candidate shouts about being for or against abortion, gay marriage, gays in general, government spending, immigration and then does nothing when they finally get in. I remember George Bush at his convention, speaking Spanish to his Hispanic voters, promising all kinds of perks to their communities. Yeah, that happened. And Obama promising a change and hope - not so much.
Some of my friends vote along moral lines. The Christian (from the right denomination); the one who champions pro-life; the one who is anti "gay agenda". Drives me up a wall. How does a man's moral compass make him a credible CEO of the company known as USA? Some people I know go for the man who looks good, who represents to foreign governments, who is conciliatory. Again, how does a nice guy apply to global finance and war? Reagan was everybody's grandfather, Kennedy was a handsome playboy wink wink, Bush was the quintessential cowboy, Clinton was cool, Palin was 'just like us' soccer mom, Obama is, well, ethnic and a nice family man. None of which fits them for the job!!
And yet, they did a credible job with what they were allowed to do by handlers and the opposition. They had their hits and they had their misses, like the rest of we unwashed masses.
So the RNC just ended, the DNC is tonight. There will be comparisons, we'll like and hate some of what we hear from both. Party faithful will cheer for their guy no matter what he says and criticize the opposition. Both will accuse the other of telling lies. Both will trot out some sentimental character who steals the show with a goofy speech meant to make the candidate look human. Their wives will tell us all what a loving husband she has. We'll be told that he wants to return us to the Real America... uh, and that is??? 50s? 20s? Beaver Cleaver? Thomas Jefferson???
But basically, who doesn't already know who they're voting for? Between now and November gobs of money will be spent and miles clocked for last minute campaigning - when 9 out of 10 of us have already made up our minds.
Based on.......???? Promises are empty, it's all a show... In the end, we continue to vote for the man, not the party platform. Hopefully not for his religion, or because of ridiculous smears (put out by the candidate himself to garner hype), or because he plays the sax, reminds of of the good old days or has either an assertive or 'purty' little wife.
I hope the vote is based on experience, integrity and balance.
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